The Postman - Review

Title: The Postman

Author: David Brin

Synopsis:  “This is the story of a lie that became the most powerful kind of truth.  A timeless novel as urgently compelling as War Day or Alas, Babylon, David Brin’s The Postman is the dramatically moving saga of a man who rekindled the spirit of America through the power of a dream, from a modern master of science fiction.

     “He was a survivor – a wanderer who traded tales for food and shelter in the dark and savage aftermath of a devastating war.  Fate touches him one chill winter’s day when he borrows the jacket of a long-dead postal worker to protect himself from the cold.  The old, worn uniform still has power as a symbol of hope, and with it he begins to weave his greatest tale, of a nation on the road to recovery.”

Review:  I picked up this book because as a teenager I loved the movie.  The movie The Postman, starring Kevin Costner,

came out in 1997, and was one of my first exposures to the post apocalyptic genre.  It was based on this book which was published in 1985.  So recently I decided to read the novel.  It’s much better than the movie, of course, when isn’t the novel better than the movie?  With the novel we are able to get more in depth descriptions, and the characters are fleshed out with descriptive back stories.  There was a lot left out of the movie, this novel is so much more than the movie even dreamed of being.  The Postman is a novel about hope, and the effect hope can have on a community.

Publisher:  Random House/ Spectra

If you like this book you may want to read:

Glory Season by David Brin

Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt

Dies the Fire (Emberverse #1) by S. M. Stirling